This year is starting off fun!

I am sort of apologizing but... then again I am not. Am I? :) I wanted to say that I am posting about our school again! Lately my posts have been about school or field trips or school or... well school! But really our days have been filled to overflow levels with school!

We are loving every step this year. I think I was doing great things last year and making progress but I felt we were missing the silly fillers you get in school. The crafts and such. I know I am not naturally crafty - I do like a fun and EASY craft but I do not inspire craftiness. I need a how to book. So anyway, this year My Father's World has added that finishing touch to our learning.

I've actually seen HC progress in LEAPS, in regards to reading, because the fun is a distraction for her. It is her reward. If she reads the 3 or 4 sentences required each day then... she can learn about apples and make her very own apple book that even LOOKS like an apple! What a reward! :) My girl loves to create! :) Step 1 - know your student! (By the way - she is reading sentences with 5 or more words in them!)

In addition we've added a more challenging math curriculum to our daily lessons. The curriculum supplies a math program but... I am sold on a particular math already. 'They' say whatever method you use for teaching Math you should keep using throughout your schooling - math is a subject that requires consistency. If you teach addition in way A you cannot jump to way B without some difficulty.

Anyway, I knew I was sold on Right Start Math and so I didn't bother with the curriculum supplied by My Father's World. So HC is now on lesson 11 of Right Start and is doing very simple addition - she just doesn't know she's solving problems. She giggles with glee when I pull out the circles for her to use. She gets to break a whole number into 2 pieces. So in the big circle she puts the #5 and then gets to try to fill in the two smaller circles with pieces of 5. So they could be 2 and 3 or 4 and 1... you get the picture! She loves it!

We were making such progress that I called a friend worried that I was not having problems. We skipped level A of math and jumped right into level B. I was worried I missed a few key filler lessons. She encouraged me that if HC were learning it and having fun.... what's the problem?? :) Duh!

Then there is language. HC has already memorized a poem and has learned what a noun is. She knows the difference between a common noun and a proper noun. She is learning to re-tell stories to me. She is really impressing me! Not to mention the language challenges her in handwriting too! Double YAY!

Then the handwriting in the curriculum is great too! It is a reminder of what we did last year. I also let her trace letters when she struggles with it. This has helped her tons. I write out sentences for her to trace and I hope by the end of the year she will be able to do copy work. That would be a big win. She can write all of her letters but her confidence isn't strong in that. I decided if she traces my writing she will become more excited that she sees the result.

This post was SUPPOSED to be about our field trips! There have been several worth sharing. I guess I found something on my mind that I could actually post about. It seems lately my time for putting my thoughts down in my blog have been fewer and fewer. I know the act of teaching my kids is way more important than a well expressed post. Seeing the aha moments and seeing JB come to the table EVERY day, since we studied Apples, to 'do' school with us... these are the moments I cannot miss! So excuse the fluffy pictures. That may be my only source of sharing for awhile. Well... I feel better now that I got all that off my chest! What a wonderful school year this has been so far. It has truly been a joy!